


stay awake

by justasuperfan



Series: everything i didn’t say [6]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben hates his powers tbh, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Gen, Hurt Diego Hargreeves, Kidnapping, Lots of Whump, Luther’s trying okay, Missions Gone Wrong, Mostly based on tv but hey had to add that extra fandom, Murder, Number Five | The Boy Whump, Protective Allison Hargreeves, Protective Luther Hargreeves, Stuttering Diego Hargreeves, Whump, he’s just a dumbass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:46:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25457218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justasuperfan/pseuds/justasuperfan
Summary: in which a mission goes horribly wrong, and leaves diego and five in bad hands
Relationships: Allison Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Diego Hargreeves
Series: everything i didn’t say [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1841560
Comments: 14
Kudos: 259





	1. is it because of me?

**Author's Note:**

> TW: violence, hitting, kidnapping
> 
> i’ll be out of town and unable to work on my one shots for a few days, so i’m going to post two chapters of this one every day. sorry that it’s pretty short and not my best work, but enjoy!

**Diego**

Just another game of cops and robbers.

That’s how Diego thought of missions, at least. His dad got a report of a hostage situation, or a robbery, or a kidnapping, and the six siblings raced to the scene as fast as possible. It was usually quick and easy work. In and out. Luther took out a few perps, Diego freed the hostages or got the rest of the bad guys, Allison rumored whoever to do whatever, Five jumped around and took out the villains, and Ben was usually just there for extreme measures. And Klaus, well...was Klaus. Sometimes he used his ability to see ghosts as blackmail, and other times he stood to the side and watched as his siblings did all the heavy lifting.

Simple.

Usually, robberies were the easiest. And the most fun, in Diego’s opinion. He got to use his knives a lot more than in a kidnapping or a killing. Plus, those involved a lot more tears and blood. Diego preferred to stick to the basics. No hostages, no liabilities, no stress. 

So when his dad sounded the alarm and announced a robbery two streets over, Diego cheered silently as he zipped up his uniform and stashed his knives in his shoes and on his belt. In the mirror, he was a fearless vigilante with a mask. A superhero. And that’s all he’d ever wanted to be. 

He heard his siblings running around outside his door, yelling about how they couldn’t find their masks or boots. Diego opened the door and stepped out, a confident smile on his face. He didn’t even need to practice his speaking this time, since Mom had helped him so much the past few times. And a good thing too, he wasn’t ready to see his father’s disapproving glare as he stuttered in the mirror. “Children, we must be ready! The situation could already be over and you’d still be dozing in your rooms!” His dad called, starting down to the car.

“I’m ready, F-F-Father!” Diego called, internally cursing his inability to speak properly. He hoped his dad didn’t notice. 

He heard the telltale sound of Five’s warping and raced down the hallway to the front door. He had to be the first one in the car to prove he was useful. He would take down those robbers and be a hero. What would his name be? _Blade_. No, that wasn’t good. No names that had anything to do with knives were good. So maybe something that referred to his ability to hold his breath? _Shark_. No, too strange. _Kraken_. Yes! He could see the headlines. _The Kraken, fearless vigilante, saves the city yet again!_

He raced out the door and into the car, beating half his siblings. Of course Five was already there, along with Luther. He was always ready before any of them, which just made Diego mad, if anything. His brother always had to prove that he belonged as Number One. But Diego was the best, and he knew it. He would prove it to his brother once and for all, when he took down the robbers single handedly.

Once all of them were in the car, they sped down a few streets and watched as the robbers ran out of a large general store. That store had been the most popular in the whole city, considering it had pretty much everything. Who knows how much they’d been able to grab?

Diego threw the door open and ran towards the robbers’ van, followed by his siblings. Diego turned to see how far his siblings were behind him. He needed to take these robbers by himself, to prove his worth to his family. Luther was right behind him, Allison slowly closing in. Ben came last, Klaus by his side. And Five...well, he warped right in front of Diego and saluted before disappeared again. Diego groaned and ran harder and faster towards the robbers.

There were four in all. Not enough to be a huge problem. Each of them were wearing ski masks and had huge bags, likely full of money or expensive merchandise. Diego slipped a knife out his belt and threw it. It glimmered in the air and landed right in the first man’s shoulder. He yelled in pain and fell to the ground. He pulled the knife out of his shoulder just as Diego threw another at the next man, impaling him in the leg.

As much as he wanted to save the day, he refused to kill anyone.

Luther ran past him in a flash and tackled the third man, while Allison ran up to another. Diego turned again and saw Klaus and Ben watching from the sidelines. So where was Five? 

“I heard a rumor…” Allison started, just as the woman she was speaking to turned and grabbed her throat. Grabbing and clawing at her hands, she was lifted into the air. 

“Allison!” Luther called out. He abandoned the man he’d been punching and ran towards the woman who had their sister.

Which left three for Diego to deal with. _This should be fun._

He closed the distance between them and nicked one on the side of his head with a thrown knife. He grabbed the one he’d stabbed in the shoulder by the collar. Even as a thirteen-year-old, he was able to lift the man to his feet and stabbed him again in the shoulder. “Pesky kids!” The man yelled, after groaning in pain, and pushed Diego off of him with his good arm. Diego stumbled and skidded to the ground.

So much for being a hero.

He wouldn’t let one man shoving him get him down. Still, his hands were skinned and he’d already lost half his knives to the men. The one he’d stabbed in the leg limped towards him, followed by the one who’d just pushed him.

“Oh shit.” He whispered. As he fumbled for a knife, a blur of black passed in front of him and Klaus was there, uppercutting one of the men. He vaguely noticed a flicker of blue in the corner of his vision and Five was punching the one Luther had given up on to help Allison. Diego smiled and stood, his last knife in his hand. He threw it.

The knife curved around his brother and around the back of the other man who’d been coming toward him. He was stabbed in his upper chest. 

“Diego!” Ben called. There was a desperation in his tone, and Diego froze. “Help him!”

Help who? He wanted to ask. Then he turned and saw it. Five was lying unconscious in the last robber’s arms.. Goddammit, Five! Why didn’t he just teleport away?

“C-C-Can you t-take this one?” Was all Diego said before racing off toward his brother. Allison was still on the ground, grasping at her throat, while Luther was kicking the woman. 

The robber was only a few feet from the car. All of Diego’s siblings were occupied, naturally. It was his chance to prove himself. He did all he could do, with no knives left.

Yelling, he charged at the man.

The car door was open before Diego got a chance to beat the robber up, but he still jumped on his back as his brother was thrown inside. “Argh!” The robber cried as Diego beat him on the back of his head. “Get off!” The man leaned over and grabbed Diego’s wrists. Before he knew what was happening, he was upside down. He hit the pavement with a sickening crunch.

The boy tried to stand, but something was stabbed at him. He didn’t have time to think about that. The man grabbed his shoulders and slammed his head against the pavement. The last thing he heard before the world was washed away in a black sea was someone calling his name.


	2. i’m screwed and hope you’re proud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things only get worse for diego and five

**Diego**

“Diego.” 

A sweet voice came from above him. It was no doubt Mom.

“Five more minutes.” He mumbled into his pillow. He wasn’t ready for more training, not yet. His chest hurt. His head pounded. He must’ve slept wrong.

“Diego, please wake up.” Something was off about her voice. It was slow, and slurred. Was she malfunctioning?

He groaned. “I’m tired.”

He half expected Mom to bribe him with chocolate chip pancakes or a milkshake, but she didn’t answer. That was unusual. He lifted his head and opened his eyes slowly.

That was most certainly _not_ his mom.

“F-Five?” He mumbled. His mouth felt like it was full of marbles. Why wasn’t he in his bed? Why was—

Oh.

He felt a burning rope on his wrists that were tied behind him. He was...in a car? The car went over a speed bump or something and jostled him. He was surrounded by bags of money and jewelry, some of which had spilled onto the car floor. He had enough space to sit up. He must’ve been in the trunk of one of those white vans...the exact one that had belonged to the robbers.

It all came back to him.

“Shhh….it.” 

“Can’t teleport.”

Diego squinted. When had his brother even not been able to use his power? Was he tired, or had they done something to him? He knew he couldn’t focus on that, but one else could he focus on? It was hard to breathe, and something in just chest stung painfully. His head felt like someone had pounded it with a hammer until it caved in on itself. Maybe it had. Maybe he was dead. 

The next thought that invaded his mind was how badly he’d failed. 

He was supposed to have shown Luther that he was supposed to be Number One, and then...he got kidnapped by the very people he’d been about to beat. He wanted to scream and pound his fists against the ground. He didn’t care how pathetic it would look. He was supposed to have finally beat his brother, finally have his father be proud of him. Would his dad even care, or even notice that he was gone? Why hadn’t any of his siblings saved them?

“You ok—” Diego’s voice stopped cooperating before he could finish the word.

Nevertheless, Five got the message. He shook his head lazily, almost like it was just lolling along with the car. “Think I’m drugged.” He drawled.

So that was why he couldn’t use his powers. And Diego was out of knives, so that was a dead end. The only power they had left was Diego’s ability to hold his breath, which definitely would not help him. “H-how long? Have we...we b-b-b-been in here?”

His brother shrugged. “Hour? Woke up like twenty minutes ago…”

Diego’s eyes flicked over Five’s body, checking for injuries. He just had a cut on his cheek, and his eyelids were drooping. His hands were tied, too. “You hurt?” Diego asked, just in case.

“Knocked me out. Think I’m fine.”

He could tell his brother was struggling to stay awake. And if Diego had learned anything about Five, it was that he would hide his injuries until he collapsed from them. He just hated showing weakness, especially in front of their dad. But he thought if Five could barely stay awake, he would’ve told him if something hurt. And it wasn’t exactly like Diego could check him for injuries. Even if he could, he couldn’t administer first aid without the proper tools or use of his hands.

“You?”

Diego shrugged. “I h-have a headache, sc-scraped hands, something in my ch-ch-chest hurts.”

His brother looked around him and checked the cuts on his hands. They weren’t too serious, and apparently Five noticed that, because he nodded. “Concussion?”

Diego blinked. The question registered in his head a few seconds later, which probably meant he did have a concussion. He nodded. Five huffed out a breath. And then fell to the side and passed out. Which was really great. Said with much sarcasm.

Come to think of it, Diego was tired, too. He knew if he closed his eyes, he might not open them again. For Five it was probably normal, since he’d been drugged. Though Diego knew nothing about drugs. The one time he wished Klaus was there, and he wasn’t.

He could’ve used all of his siblings, as much as he hated to admit it. Luther would’ve ripped through the restraints and the car door in seconds. Allison would’ve rumored their way out of it. Ben would be able to take out all the kidnappers at once. Even Klaus would be able to blackmail them, and he could fight pretty well, too. And Vanya…

Well.

Diego didn’t want to hate on Vanya, but she would just be a liability. Just another person to worry about. More blood on his hands.

Diego forced himself to stay awake and watch Five, just in case the kidnappers came back and tried anything. It felt like he was awake forever. How far did these people drive just to rob a measly convenience store? But finally, the car stopped. He heard distant talking and loud footsteps against pavement. The large doors opened and sunlight flooded into the van with its blacked out windows. He blinked against the harsh light and made out the figure of the woman who’d choked his sister. He gritted his teeth.

“Well he’ll be easier to work with. Might want to give him more drugs if he starts getting stronger.” She nodded towards Five and then reached in, picking him up under his knees and back. 

“L-let...let him go!” Diego tried, but his voice was small and scared. He cursed his stupid stutter as the kidnappers laughed. The woman moved out of the way and one of the men reached in and picked Diego up, slinging him over the man’s shoulder like he weighed nothing. He struggled and fought against the kidnapper’s grip, but his muscles were like rocks, and Diego was still tired. His chest ached.

“Oh yeah, these will be great bribes for the old man. I’m willing to bet we’ll get three million each.”

“Think bigger! One billion each.”

He kicked and fought as the man carried him across the street and into what looked like an abandoned building. He didn’t want to risk protesting again, because he knew it wouldn’t do anything, and they’d just make fun of him. He wished he knew where he was, or had some way to communicate with his siblings. He really, really hated to admit it, but he needed Luther. Even thinking that made him want to gag.

Diego knew he was in a huge dilemma, and he had no way how to get both him and his brother out of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, this is going to be longer than i anticipated. hope you enjoy! as always, comments and kudos are appreciated!


	3. look what you’ve done now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> luther realizes he’s made a huge mistake, while diego and five slowly figure this out

**Luther**

“Number One! You are the leader. How could you have let this happen?”

Luther had never seen his father so angry. His cheeks were red, and he kept spitting when he talked. Luther stood still in front of his desk, wincing as his father raised his voice.

He hadn’t _meant_ for Five and Diego to get kidnapped, but he’d just been so worried Allison was going to die, and by the time he realized his brothers were gone, the van was too far to follow. He didn’t need any more chastising from his father. He hated himself enough for what he’d let happen. He knew that Allison could’ve handled herself, and if he’d knocked the first man out, then his brothers would be with him. He really hoped they weren’t dead yet.

He knew they would be soon.

“I’m sorry, F—”

“You have not been given permission to speak!” His father spat. “Leave me. You are a great disappointment, Number One.”

Luther’s heart sank. Those words had never been spoken to him. He was always the leader, the best, the greatest accomplishment of his father. Never a _disappointment_. Never a _regret_. He found himself running the second he got out of the office, straight to his room. And then he punched the wall, again and again, ignoring the house shuddering every time his fist hit the wall. 

His vision was red. He was sure he was dying of embarrassment and hatred for himself. He had let this happen. He _was_ a disappointment. He didn’t deserve to be a leader. He didn’t deserve _anything_!

_Wham!_

It registered in his brain a minute later that his fist had gone straight through the wall. Through the plaster and wooden support beam past that. There were dents all around the hole from where his fists had hit. “Shit,” He breathed. His hands raised up in front of his eyes and then he tangled them in his hair. “Shit!”

“Luther, darling? Are you okay?” His mom’s voice came from the hallway. He sat back on his bed, stunned. He wished he hadn’t let any of this happen.

When she didn’t get an answer, Mom opened the door and poked her head in. Luther felt tears pricking his eyes and he swallowed, letting his hands fall into his lap. “Oh, dear.” She frowned and sat next to him. “It’s not your fault, darling.” She placed her hand on his and he jerked away.

“Yes, it is, Mom. I’m not good enough. I’m not a leader.”

“Luther—”

“Stop, okay?! You don’t understand! You don’t have feelings! You’re a machine!” 

As soon as he said the words, he regretted them. Of course Mom had feelings. She cared about all of them, whether she was made of flesh and blood or nuts and bolts. “Mom, I didn’t mean that.”

“It’s alright.” Her smile never faded. “I’ll go make cookies.”

She left the room, her heels clicking. Allison appeared in the doorway and came in without an invitation. He stood as she opened her arms for a hug. Even though he was taller than her, he leaned into her, reaching his face down to bury it in her shoulder. “I’m such an idiot.”

“No, you’re not. It’s not your fault.”

She held onto him a moment longer than she should’ve, but Luther didn’t mind. He enjoyed it. Her touch grounded him. He remembered that he didn’t need to be good enough for his dad, as long as he was good enough for Allison.

“Let’s go. I think I know how to find them.”

**Diego**

He was tied roughly to a chair, even as he kicked and struggled. The man tying him down was way stronger than him, which meant he was never getting out. He could only hope someone noticed they were gone and had followed the van, otherwise, they would never find them. Five sat across from him, head still hanging. Diego wished he would wake up, powers fully restored, and warp them both out of there as quickly as possible. But it was a stupid dream. Diego didn’t let himself believe in it for long.

He was grateful for having eaten before they went on the mission, so he wasn’t immensely hungry. He guessed the kidnappers had to keep them alive to bribe their dad, but they could still kill them and pretend they were still alive to get their money. Diego didn’t doubt they would do something as sick as that.

God, he just needed to get his knives and cut through both of their bindings and get them both out of there. His chest still stung, the pain magnified by the tight ropes, his head pounded and made everything seem sluggish, and something poked against his ankle. Wait, what was poking his ankle?

_Diego cheered silently as he zipped up his uniform and stashed his knives in his shoes and on his belt._

Of course! How had he forgotten about the knives in his shoes? If only he could reach them. Maybe Five could push his limits and do the thing where he switches objects? He had to wake up first, and Diego wasn’t even sure it would work. Five was likely incapable of using his powers no matter how hard he tried, and he probably had to be touching the object. But still, having weapons on him was a small victory. He fought to keep a smirk off his face. Maybe he would be able to get them out of there after all.

Even if he was never the strategist.

He didn’t know how long he’d been struggling against the ropes when Five started to stir.

Five blinked slowly and looked around before jolting so fast Diego almost had a heart attack. “Jesus Five, warn a guy.”

His brother didn’t pay attention, just muttered slowly, “Where are we?”

“You don’t r-remember?” Diego asked. It took Five a minute, but he nodded as if he did remember. 

“Kidnapped, right?”

Diego nodded. Five began tapping on his chair. Diego would’ve thought nothing of it. He was probably just fidgeting. It was a stressful situation after all. Except...Five never fidgeted. Even heavily drugged and half-awake, he wouldn’t be tapping or pulling on anything. His thoughts were a little slower than usual, but he finally registered that his brother was tapping the same pattern as his head lolled. Morse code.

_C-A-M…_ Was that an E? Diego waited until Five repeated the pattern _C-A-M-E-R...A-S_

That genius.

Of course they shouldn’t talk about their escape route when the kidnappers were watching and listening to the boys’ every move. Diego began tapping, just loud enough for Five to hear, but not too loud as to be suspicious. 

_I have knives._

Five’s eyes widened, but then went back to being half-open. He tapped out another rhythm. _Still drugged, not as heavy_. Diego nodded once, so that it could almost be regarded as his head lolling tiredly. 

_Looks heavy._

Five sighed quietly. But Diego heard. _Pretending._

Again, that genius.

He was pretending to be drugged really heavily so they wouldn’t inject any more into him. That way, he could regain his strength enough to use his powers without the kidnappers even knowing. Sometimes, it was hard to believe Klaus and Luther were around him all the time and were still morons.

What Diego wouldn’t give to have Ben, or Vanya, or anyone else there with them. It’s not that he didn’t like Five, he just missed his siblings so much. 

_Teleport?_

Five shook his head once. Diego internally cursed. Whenever the goons came back, he would have to distract them even more from giving his brother more of whatever made him unable to use his powers. 

Speak of the devil.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t our two favorite superheroes.” The biggest man, the one that had knocked Five out, waltzed in like he owned the place. Diego noticed his brother gritting his teeth before he presented to pass out again. Or really passed out. He couldn’t exactly tell. When neither of them said anything, the man huffed in annoyance. “Aw, c’mon, I think we could be friends. Stutter and Sleepy. What a pair.”

Diego refused to be made a fool again. He kept his mouth shut.

“Hm. I rather like to hear my prisoners beg for mercy. Why don’t I wake the chatty one up.”

Before Diego could say anything, had slapped Five across the face. Diego winced and his brother snapped his eyes open, gasping in pain. With the man’s muscles, that would definitely leave a decent-sized bruise. “Moron.” Five drawled, then passed out again. Which could not be good. The man punched him in the nose. Five didn’t wake up this time. Diego really hoped he was faking it.

When the kidnapper wound his arm back, aiming for Five’s gut, Diego finally spoke up. “Stop!”

Surprisingly, the goon did stop. And then turned right around to face Diego. “I’m sure seeing you roughed up will raise the price.”

Diego felt a brick wall slam into his stomach, and then he passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have to give luther some credit. he does love and protect his siblings. enjoy some good luther content, and don’t hate on me because i portrayed him as a morally correct person :)


	4. i’ve got a lot to say but words are getting old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> allison and luther make a plan, diego and five need to take a punch

**Luther**

“That could work.”

After hiding out in Allison’s fort on the roof, the two had discussed the best options. Obviously, their father wasn’t racing to get their brothers back, and who knew when the kidnappers would grow tired of the pair and kill them? 

They might have already been long gone.

He should know. He’d been very close to killing them himself a number of times.

As Allison had phrased it, the one good idea the old man had ever had was installing their suits with trackers. Which meant that, as long as the robbers hadn’t figured it out, the two of them could rumor the tracking device away from their dad and get someone to drive them to the robbers’ hideout with Ben as backup. The only question was, why hadn’t their dad already gone after them if he knew exactly where they were?

Luther wasn’t eager to admit that his dad had made a mistake. A big one, at that. After all, he had found them all as kids and helped them develop their powers. And even though he didn’t show it, Luther knew he cared about them. He cared enough to create them a mother, to feed and help them, to keep Vanya out of danger. Luther wasn’t ready to believe that his father would let two of his sons die because he was too lazy to go find them. Apparently, Allison was ready to embrace that wholeheartedly and find them herself. 

“It has to work.” Allison met his eyes. “I know this is hard for you, but you have to accept that Dad is wrong. So we have to lie to him to get them back. Okay?”

Luther nodded slowly. It didn’t matter that his dad was making a mistake. It was only human. As long as they found Five and Diego and got them home safely, everything would be okay. It wasn’t his dad’s fault, and he refused to admit that. “When should we leave?”

Allison folded up the paper they’d been writing the details on, and the map they’d used to try and deduce where their brothers were being kept. She looked at him with an intensity and anger he’d never seen her wear. “Now.”

**Diego**

When he came to, he first noticed the nausea in his stomach, and how the stabbing feeling in his chest had increased tenfold. Also, his face stung and he ached to reach up and touch it, even though it wouldn’t do anything. He tasted metallic blood from a split lip, which he’d deducted after he ran a tongue over it. When he finally stopped focusing on his own pain, he looked over at Five. Blood had dried above his lips, his nose was at a crooked angle, he had bruises on his face, and he was still out cold. Just great.

“Five!” He whispered sharply, trying to lean closer to him. But he was across the room, and even if Diego did make it to him, his hands were still tied behind his back. He wouldn’t be able to do anything. He groaned internally and kept calling Five’s name, so they could at least make a plan. He really hoped they hadn’t drugged his brother again while he was out.

The lights were beginning to hurt Diego’s eyes, and he found the small meal he’d eaten wasn’t keeping his hunger satisfied. Plus, he was so thirsty. He doubted these guys would feed or hydrate either of them. Much less treat their injuries that they’d inflicted. He just had to accept that, until Five regained his powers, there was no way out.

Was it even the same day, or had only hours passed? It was impossible to tell in the windowless room. His thoughts were getting slower and slower, and harder to comprehend. He doubted he’d even remember morse code if Five woke up. If. That word scared him. What if Five was...dead?

“Five!” Still no response.

He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. It would be a long day.

**Luther**

“I’m still not sure this is a great idea.” Luther whispered to Allison as they waited outside their father’s office doors.

Allison stared at him like he’d grown a second head, which made him very uncomfortable. He hated that Allison kept having to convince him of what he already knew, deep down. Reginald Hargreeves was a bad person. Luther just couldn’t seem to understand it. “This is the only way to get them back. You do want to get them back, don’t you?”

Did he really? Couldn’t he live without Five’s snarky comments and Diego’s constant arguing and bragging? But that would make Allison completely hate him, so he chose the moral option. Plus, he did love his brothers. As much as he hated to say it. “Of course. I just...maybe we don’t have to trick Dad.”

They didn’t have any more time to argue, because Allison reached out and knocked twice on the large oak doors. With no response, Allison pushed open the doors and the two of them stepped inside in sync. Luther swallowed hard. The man writing in a red book in front of them was a villain. He abandoned his sons. Luther had to get that into his brain.

“Father,” Allison started. They’d decided—with much interjection from Luther—that she would ask their dad first, and then rumor him if it came to that. “Our brothers are missing and possibly dead. Could we please use the tracking device and go find them?”

Reginald—not dad, Reginald, Luther had managed to convince himself that much—looked up from his writing with a stoic expression. “No.”

Allison’s composure broke. “‘No’? Our brothers are as good as dead and you don’t care?”

“I advise you not to use that tone with me, Number Three.” Reginald went back to his work without so much as an explanation. Luther ran that through his head. Still, he couldn’t see Reginald as a bad person. Somehow. Still.

“Fine. I heard a rumor you let us have the tracking device.” Allison’s tone was angry and definite. Luther watched as his father’s eyes went milky white and he reached into the drawer, pulling out a beeping device. He handed it to Allison without hesitation.

“Run.” Luther whispered. They were out of the room before Reginald regained his senses and came after them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you love whump, you’re in the right place. if not, things are going to get better soon. enjoy this very long one shot


	5. i think you saved my life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> luther, allison, and ben save the day

**Diego**

_Can’t use powers. Not long though._

Five tapped on the back of his chair, eyes still closed. Diego grimaced. The man had been back a total of three times since Five had woken up again, and beat them up to his heart’s content. Diego was sporting a black eye, bruised shins, and a bigger headache in addition to his previous wounds. Five had refused to open his eyes since the man left the last time, either because his head had been slammed into the wall until he passed out yet again, or because his nose was likely broken.

Diego tapped back, _When you can, get over here and give me knives. Then we leave._

It took a while to get the whole sentence out, but once he did, Five nodded. Diego barely held back a scream as the second man walked into the room. Was he there to beat them up again? Diego didn’t know how much more either of them can take. Five blinked his eyes open and Diego saw the fear in them. He would be more than happy when his brother’s powers finally got them out.

“Alright kiddos, it’s officially been a day. Time to collect our money from your dear old dad, huh?” The man mocked. Diego gritted his teeth, but soon found that made his head hurt more. So did sound. So did anything, really. 

The robber raised a camera and started a video. Immediately, Five started talking, exaggeratedly slow to make the goons think he was still in deep. “Thanks for not helping us. What a great dad.”

Diego didn’t want to embarrass himself on tape, so he stayed quiet. Which was a good thing, because the man started talking. “Well, what a cheery son you’ve got. So listen up old man, if we don’t get a...suitable compensation for your little toys, we kill them. Get the picture? Get the money to us in forty-eight hours, or say goodbye to Stutter and Sleepy.”

The man left moments later. Diego immediatly began thrashing against the ropes, screaming through his teeth in frustration. He didn’t care about a stupid camera, or their stupid laughs. He didn’t care whether he was showing Five that he was afraid, or that maybe the man was still recording. He wanted out. He wanted to be able to kick these guys’ asses, and he couldn’t do that if he was tied up. He needed to kill them. Screw morals. These guys were going to pay.

**Luther**

Allison, Ben, and Luther sat shoulder to shoulder in a cab, breathing synced, tracking device beeping incessantly. They were about an hour from the house, and still not nearly close enough to release a relieved sigh yet. 

Luther sighed and grabbed the tracking device from the floor once again, checking their position. Three green dots on the move, the three of them. Two dots relatively close, hours away. How had the robbers gotten there so fast, and why had they come all the way to Luther’s city just to rob a store? Didn’t they have convenience stores in their city?

Unless…

Oh no. Oh, no no no no. 

It was so obvious, he gasped aloud. Allison and Ben gave him a concerned glance, but he didn’t know if his thoughts were in order enough to voice them. 

Why would the robbers come so far away just to rob a mediocre store? It didn’t make sense. _Unless_ they weren’t there for the store. Unless they were there for certain kids, a certain compensation from a certain billionaire. Why else would they have come so far, and robbed a store so close to the Umbrella Academy? The robbers didn’t come for the store, they came for Luther and his siblings.

“Allison,” He finally spoke. “This isn’t about a store.”

**Diego**

What must have been hours later, Diego felt a strange surge in the air. Five’s fists were glowing blue, the air bending around them. He was sweating, pushing himself too hard to try and get them out. He knew the camera was catching it, so if he didn’t succeed, they’d be back to drug him in minutes.

“Come on, come _on_ ,” Five muttered under his breath, a little louder than usual. They would definitely be suspicious if they didn’t already know blue fists meant he was warping.

Diego heard the pounding of footsteps. They were coming. He didn’t want to pressure Five, but if they didn’t get out soon, they were dead. 

Five apparently heard it, because even with as many injuries as he had, he threw his whole force into opening a rift in space. And then, two seconds later, his brother was right in front of him. Diego heard himself laugh suddenly and sharply, giddiness overcoming him. They were getting out! Five smiled weakly and then reached down into Diego’s outstretched boot, pulling the knife out. He stumbled around the edge of the chair and cut the ropes on Diego’s wrists and ankles, just as the door slammed open and three kidnappers burst in.

“Dammit.” Five murmured, then grabbed Diego’s wrist.

“No, wait.” Diego whispered. Then he threw his knife, curving it to that it hit all three of them and killed them all. He must’ve been off his game, or overestimated the power of knives, because it only embedded in the biggest man’s head and then stopped. “Let’s go.”

Five began to warp again, but he was obviously straining. The man fell to the floor and the woman and remaining man ran towards Diego, obviously furious. “You little shit!” The man yelled as he reached for Diego’s wrist.

Right as Five teleported them out.

Diego landed outside the building, on the empty road. He fell to his knees and grunted when his aching shins hit the ground. And then he threw up whatever food his body had been storing right on the asphalt. When he finished, he looked over at Five and saw through his blurry vision that his brother was out cold. Shit.

The doors to the building were opening, and Diego couldn’t manage to crawl a few inches without dry heaving from the pain of his chest, or the nausea teleporting had risen in him. There was more yelling, and the man and woman emerged from the building, running towards them. Diego was out of ideas. But he couldn’t, _wouldn’t_ go back. They would just hurt the two of them more, and he couldn’t handle it. He knew they were going to kill him within two days. He knew Five would be drugged, and they would be restrained, and hurt until the kidnappers grew tired of it.

So maybe that’s what gave him the adrenaline to kick the man right in the groin when he got too close.

The man fell back, and Diego’s short burst of adrenaline lasted long enough for him to find the second knife in his boots. He aimed for the woman’s nose, but only nicked her ear. Still, she stumbled back. It gave him enough time to collapse and crawl to his brother’s side. If they were going to die, at least it would be together.

Then he heard a loud horn.

**Luther**

“It’s them!” Luther shouted, and leaned forward, pressing his hand on the driver’s horn. It worked, because the robbers standing over his brothers jumped in fear. It gave Luther enough time to jump out of the moving car and straight to the woman who’d choked Allison.

He uppercutted her and she fell back. Something cracked from Luther’s immense strength. He approached the second man and slammed his head into the road, knocking him out. Then he ran for his brothers, who were both lying on the road.

“Diego! Five!” He shouted. Diego looked up. As much as Luther hated him, he couldn’t help but wince in sympathy at the state of his brother’s face. His lip was bleeding, one of his eyes bruised and swollen shut, and bruises lined his jaw. On top of that, he noticed something poking out of his shirt. He really hoped that wasn’t a rib.

It probably was.

“Luther!” Allison shouted from the car. He turned just as another man charged at him and tackled him to the ground.

Luther was so stunned that he was trapped under the man’s grip. That is, until the robber’s stomach was grabbed by a dark tentacle, and he was lifted into the air. Luther exhaled and then laughed. _Ben._

“Allison! Get Five and Diego!” Luther shouted. He ran towards his sister, who was leaning over their two brothers and grimacing.

Ben stood strong, yelling as his tentacle ripped the man in half. Blood splattered onto his smaller brother, who whimpered. The tentacles immediately extracted and Ben stumbled back, horrified. Luther grabbed Diego, mostly just to taunt him about it later, and Allison grabbed Five. With some struggling.

“You’d think if they were after us, they’d have more than four people.” Allison grunted under Five’s weight. 

The cab driver looked horrified when they laid their two unconscious brothers in the back seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more chapter! thanks for all your support!


	6. it follows me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which diego and five are home, and allison saves her brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: child abuse

**Luther**

“They both have concussions, though Diego’s is more serious. Diego’s injuries include a black eye, swollen lip, and a broken rib. Five’s injuries include internal bleeding, a broken nose, and there are still drugs in his system.” Mom reported. For once, she wasn’t smiling.

“ _Internal bleeding?!_ ” Vanya shouted, suddenly very concerned. “How did that happen?”

“Unclear. I believe Five pushed himself to the limit too many times, which had a negative outcome on his body. He was also repeatedly hit in the stomach, which could have contributed.” Mom answered.

“Jesus…” Klaus muttered, rubbing his hands over his face.

Luther didn’t want to say it, but he was concerned about Diego. Blegh. It physically hurt to think of those words. But seriously, Mom said he had a bad concussion, and he’d passed out once they’d gotten home. And he didn’t look very good at all. How much had those robbers done in just over a day?

Luther wanted to stay and watch over his brothers, but then he heard his number being called. “Number One! Number Three!”

Allison looked over at him and whispered, “Well, fuck.”

They both stood and began walking towards the doors of the infirmary as Luther’s heart leapt into his throat. He knew full well what disobeying Reginald met. How had he not seen the man’s bad qualities earlier? 

When they made it into the hallway, Reginald was standing there, next to Pogo. Pogo gave them a sympathetic frown, while Reginald was fuming. The doors to the infirmary shut right before he spoke. “Number One! You were irresponsible and failed your mission. You then deceived me, used Number Three as an accomplice, and dragged Number Six along. Therefore, you will be banned from all missions for the next three days. In that time, you will participate in extra harsh training.” Luther almost fought back, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. “As for you Number Three, you know what happens when you use your powers on me. No missions for two days!”

Luther thought that was the end of it, but then Reginald’s raised. He knew doing anything would make his punishment worse, so he squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself for it. He felt a change in the air just as Allison yelled.

“I heard a rumor you can’t hit your kids!”

Luther’s eyes opened to see Reginald lowering his hand. He glared at Allison. “Number Three. Four days of no missions.” Then he turned on his heel and left. Luther let out a relieved breath and hugged Allison.

“Thank you.” 

**Diego**

Diego woke up to the sound of beeping and hushed snoring.

He immediately shot up in bed and realized the stinging in his chest had dulled significantly. The pounding in his head was muffled, and his eye was able to open at least a little. He looked around and saw Vanya, Ben, Klaus, Allison, and Luther asleep in chairs they’d dragged in from the kitchen. They all looked so peaceful. Diego found himself smiling. He was home.

He turned and saw Five, hunched over a notebook. When his brother noticed Diego was awake, he gave him a rare grin. “Thanks for saving me.”

“I didn’t do much saving,” Diego admitted. His gaze flitted over to Luther. “It was actually dear old Number One.”

Five snorted, which made Diego laugh, and soon everyone had woken up from their crazy giggling. “Woah, you guys are insane,” Klaus laughed.

“Group hug?” Vanya suggested.

“Ugh, fine.” Luther rolled his eyes.

Wrapped in the arms of his siblings, Diego realized something. It didn’t matter whether they shared DNA or not. They were family, and they loved each other.

No matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, that was way longer than i anticipated it to be. i have around 4 more one shots planned for this series, so enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> well, hope you enjoy this. it’ll be a lot longer than my other one shots. i guess i could make it its own book, but whatever. make sure to check out the other works in this series!


End file.
